(Newser)
–
Sarah Lorge Butler cannot believe she needs to remind us of this, but “it’s not polite to use a BlackBerry or iPhone at the table. Ever,” she writes for CBS. After running into two situations—one involving a friend, the other a stranger—in which she wanted to confront the offending “CrackBerry” addict, she went to Peter Post, director of the Emily Post Institute, for advice. When it comes to strangers, he warns, best not to say anything at all.

In the case of a friend, who used his iPhone while eating dinner at her house, he advises her to ask something like, “Can you show me more about how that thing works? Do you ever run into situations where people get frustrated when you use it at the table?” in order to get the point across gently. He also suggests this surefire solution: Take your most addicted friends out to dinner only at restaurants with strict no-device policies. (You could also try pointing out the health dangers...)